Sunglasses, $5

Nothing harkens the summer like a cool pair of shades. Besides protecting your eyeballs, the right pair says something about you. For me, these shades say something really important about me: I'm broke.

Wal-Mart

150 Gold Star Highway, Groton

860.448.2022

www.walmart.com

Record, $1; Belt, $24

Typically when I'm checking out a store for a Material Girl Finds piece, I limit myself to one item per store and I never bring my wallet in with me. Well, I'm 0 for 2 with this one. After searching through the store's Web site, and coming across their vintage album collection, I figured I could find something to add to my mom's collection. Not only did I find a Fleetwood Mac album I found a really cool belt. It's made of porcelain stone and glass seed beads and the part that loops through your waistband is made of gold snakeskin.

Tumbleweeds

325 Main St., Niantic

860.739.9018

www.tumbleweedsct.com

Necklace, $15

I'm not big on candle parties or cookware parties, but when I got a recent invitation to a jewelry party, I was intrigued. A local woman and her cousin make all kinds of jewelry and even though I promised myself I wouldn't buy anything, I was happy to turn over my gas money for the week to go home with this amazing piece.

CoCo Dream Accessories

New London

860.271.6730

rosador71@yahoo.com

Light, $339.95

Living in a historic city like New London, you can't help but think of Colonial times. The styling of this faux Colonial lantern stays true to the time period. The post light is made of solid brass and has a dark brass finish that has been chemically aged to look, well, aged.

Saybrook Country Barn

2 Main St., Old Saybrook

860.388.0891

www.saybrookcountrybarn.com